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A fishing team headed up by Susan Wendel recently took top honors at this year’s Redfish Rodeo in Galveston. The all-women tourney attracted about 30 teams this year. Wendel and team members Peggy Colbert, Claudia Heslep and Vicki McCutchan, all from Bastrop, scored the win by weighing in 55.11 pounds of fish, but caught 50 more pounds, which could not be included in their impressive catch.

In second place was another team from Bastrop, made up by Deborah Rogers, Connie Reichert, Cindy Hayes and Megan Richards. The tournament’s founder and executive director, Gina Nesloney, also is from Bastrop.

Congratulations to all. You represented our town very well.

Bastrop Boot Company celebrates seven years in business

Marc Conselman and the Bastrop Boot Company are celebrating their seven years in business in Bastrop in a big way starting bright and early Friday.

The KVET morning crew will be at the store live from 5-10 a.m. with a free breakfast for military veterans and active duty personnel and their families, in addition to prizes. A former Longhorn football captain and Green Beret service member will also be there. All veterans will get 15 percent off their purchase through Veterans Day.

From noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, is their “Design Your Own Boot Weekend.” Conselman and his designers create many of their own styles, which draws customers from Austin, Houston and beyond. This is our chance to work with their staff in addition to the team from Anderson Bean and Rios of Mercedes Boot Companies to help us design a unique, premium hand-made pair of boots.

What do Tough Cookie Bakery, Green Acre, Fruitful Hill Farms, JBG Farms, Bastrop Cattle Company, Blue Donkey Farms, Countryside Farms all have in common? They are all area businesses. What else do they have in common? Their baked goods, vegetables, pork, lettuce, beef, and fruits are all used in the menu at our newest restaurant, The 602 on Main.

I congratulate owner Rick Brackett for locally sourcing so many of the items found on the restaurant’s unique menu. When we “eat local,” it may cost a bit more. However, these farmers don’t have genetically modified produce; their cattle and pigs haven’t been given growth hormones; nor have they been fed with GMO’s.

Besides that, they just taste better.

I have a new friend, enjoyed great reception

Thanks to Sue Ann Fruge and Bonnie Coffey, I have a new friend. When Sue Ann called Bonnie for suggestions of a person who could coordinate a reception for 150 people at the last minute, Bonnie suggested she call me.

I agreed, and showed up at the beautiful Pecan Street home of Cindy Aarvig and Larry Hill to lend a hand. They were celebrating the earlier wedding in Ireland of her son Scott and his bride Brooke.

The party was elegant, with china and real silverware, and laid back at the same time. Everyone had a great time, evidenced by the fact that they wouldn’t let the band leave. In fact, when I left, the band members were dancing with a number of the beautiful members of the wedding party.

Congratulations all around. Thank you, Sue Ann. I hope to see Cindy and Larry again in the near future.

I don’t understand …

I don’t understand how a man’s anger could be so deep that he would walk into a small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and kill 26 worshippers and wound 20 others. The dead ranged in age from five to 72, including the church pastor’s 14-year-old daughter.

I don’t understand why Facebook posts having anything to do with politics or guns almost always end in name-calling and angry retorts.

I don’t understand why and how we lost the ability to discuss differences of opinion with civility. The issues facing our divided country are deep and serious and numerous. We need true leadership from both sides of the aisle at all levels of government.

If that does not emerge, maybe we need to develop leadership from the grassroots.

Until Next Week

That’s all for now. Until next week, be good to yourself. Let me hear from you by email at mooreaboutbastrop@yahoo.com so I can share the fun things that are going on in and around Bastrop.

Remember: “When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening. That is where your power is.” Author Unknown